Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-09
WHERE THE HOMELESS SLEEP.
4 uaSf Hour Among the Migrants In .
New York Police Station.

- WMIA n0UF Among the N0KrHuIa IN y
New York Police Station.
1be room about thirty feet square. In
J The centre Of it stood a stove glowing
with fervent heat. Upon the floor, packed
together like clothespins in a box, lay
sixty men, and one poor Maynard crea-
ture of the weaker sex. Most of tn in
mates We're stretched upon boards about
q foot wide and seven feet long, one end
of which lay On the stone floor, with the
other end raised about ten inches. Some
slept with their clothes on; others used
their coats for pillows, and there were
those still who had removed parts of their
clothing, and were making abortive
efforts to conform to civilized usage with
the help Of checked Jumpers and thread
bare handkerchiefs. At intervals rose
legs like inverted letter VS., resembling
pack ice in an arctic sea.
The visitor picked his way gingerly
through the PROSTATE figures to the stove
and surveyed the scene, and as he gazed
he wished that the Queen of Sheba might
pass that way with frankincense and
myrTh. The snoring was unique and
varied, and ranged from the bass tones
Of a bassoon to the shrill nasal quality Of
o clarionst. There was no ventilation;
even the paper caulking had been re-
placed after the shutting of the door, and
the heavy air reeked with heat and
noisome civilizations, and made the fog
and chill of the street seem Eden like by
comparison.
A number of late corners, who were
unable to obtain room enough in which
to lie down, had propped themselves
against the wall and were cousoled in
their discontinue by watching each new
conner as he looked around and realized
that if he slept at all he would have to
sleep standing.
One man had become weary with
standing. Seeing a vacant six inches of
board near him he made an effort TO sit,
bait was restrained by the squatter on
that territory, who arose from his recum-
bent position and shook his grimy fist
threateningly.
If YOU sit down there Ill crack your
skull!'
Lie down, my friend and adjust
your bedclothing; You may catch cold"
said the aggressor, sopthingly.
An audible smoker ran around the
room, whach was quickly repressed when
the squatter raised himself on his elbow
and looked around, trying to detect the
ones who had the temerity to laugh in
that chamber of horrors.
His discovery Of the culprits meant ex-
pulsion, and they knew It. He it wal
who, by virtue Of the fact that he at
tended to the fire and swept out the place
in the morning, was invested with a sort
Of unofficial authority, which he exer-
cised with the ~absoluteness Of a car.
When he called out: Turn down that
light!' IAN incautious youth had turned
up the gas 50 that he could read a news
paper the glim was turned SO low that
il resembled a taper on some sacriicial
altar. Having also called the attention
Of several Migrants to the fact that they
were talking too loudly, a hush such as
falls upon q court room when the Judge
sentences a murderer fell upon the
place.
For the most part the inmates of the
room were professional FOUNDERS. who
v work and who subsist on the
charity Of Others. But there were excp-
tons 10 this rule, who were the victims
Of unfortunate circumstances. One poor
fellow, who did the caulking under the
door, said that he had never spent a
night in such a place before, and that he
had prosperous relations in this city, but
pride prevented his asking their assist
ance. He was kind enough to volunteer
o little advice.
IF We hav' five cints in yer pocket"
said he, I'VE can go around to war o.
thin saloons on tn Bowery as kapes open
all night. IL We hav' tn price o. a glass
o. beer We can sit in a chair all night, an
We won't be kicked out at 4 O'Clock in the
mornin', as We will be if We stay here"
Seeing that his listeners did not intend
taking his advice he turned the converse
ton into other channels.
'sD'ye see tn gray haired ould man
lynn on that board? Well, in that check
jumper he's usin' for a pillow he has
grub ash last him three days. I'll war
rant he didn't do a tap o. work this
twel'month, but he'll go around an beg
all day, an sleep in tn park in the sum-
mer and in tn station houses in tn
winter. He wouldn't be let sleep in one
station house all tn time, bekase tn po-
lice gets acquainted with him. an thin
he'd be pulled up afore tn Justice and
STINT & tn island. So he works tn station
houses till he goes tn rounds"
Here the story teller looked around the
room YEARLY, as though realizing the
fact that the supply of beds was not
equal to the demand, and resumed:
'It's mighty airly in tn evenin' yell be
comm here IL We wants c get a place &
lie down. Shure most o. tn chaps here
gets in afore dark. They hav' their
boards picked out, an they kapes 'em by
stickin' to 'en. They're sly as foxes"
The recital was interrupted by the
opening OF the door and the appearances
Of a man with a wooden leg. His coat
was soaked with rain, and a rivulet OF
water ran from his SLOUGH hat upon the
floor. He cast a wistful eye toward the
stove, but the intervening sleeping figures
seemed an almost impossible barrier be-
tween him and the fire. The entrance of
the cripple had awakened some of the
sleepers, and twenty pairs Of eyes watched
him as he stood upon his sound leg and
gyrated the wooden leg irresolutely in
the air until he found space enough in
which to set il down. After q good deal
of careful balancing, and many narrow
escapes from falling upon the PROSTATE
figures, he reached the stove. the heat
from which turned the moisture in his